‘Bootstrap’ Proposed Standard TG3 Ballot Imminent; More ATSC 3.0 Candidate Standards in the Wings

Posted on February 1, 2016 in ATSC News

Marking another important milestone in the ATSC 3.0 standardization process, the first ingredient in the Physical Layer transmission standard for next-generation TV broadcasts is now on the path to become a final standard.

TG3, the ATSC’s Technology Group developing ATSC 3.0, voted to approve the ballot to elevate  A/321 “System Discovery and Signaling” Candidate Standard to a Proposed Standard.  (This so-called “bootstrap signal” portion of the Physical Layer will be important to the future evolution of ATSC 3.0.)  

After the Proposed Standard ballot has passed TG3 and comments are resolved, a ballot to approve A/321 as a Final Standard will be considered by the full ATSC membership.

TG3 Chairman Rich Chernock of Triveni Digital highlighted further 3.0 progress:

Next up: The A/322 Candidate Standard for the core Physical Layer transmission system is expected to move to ballot for Proposed Standard this spring. In parallel, the comment resolution process continues on 10 other Candidate Standards.

More Candidate Standards are in the wings.  Documentation for the A/342 ATSC 3.0 audio standard is nearing completion, and TG3 members may vote to elevate this to Candidate Standard status in the near future.  Working drafts for other pending Candidate Standards are progressing on schedule.

Specialist Group work continues on enabling apps for advanced TVs, including the A/344 Run-time Environment, expected to be elevated to Candidate Standard in the months ahead.

TG3 Ad Hoc Groups are involved in lots of exciting work as well, including analyzing ATSC 3.0 Standards for future extensibility, exploring MVPD delivery options, and considering the broader ATSC 3.0 ecosystem, among others. 

In other TG3 news, the next ATSC 3.0 “Plug Fest” has been scheduled for the week of March 21. Hosted by ONE Media and Sinclair Broadcast Group near Baltimore, Md., the plug fest will put the A/322 Physical Layer Candidate Standard and other aspects of 3.0 through their paces and test equipment interoperability.

Posted in ATSC News